TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This application relates to the field of device control and the field of optical
communication, and more specifically, to a system, a method, and an apparatus for
device control based on optical communication.
BACKGROUND
[0003] In a conventional industrial production factory, many devices and apparatuses located
at a production site, for example, a sensor, a regulator, a transducer, and an actuator,
are connected to a controller through cables or twisted-pair cables. The controller
communicates with the devices and apparatuses at the production site by using a field
bus technology. Various types of operation parameter status information and fault
information of the devices at the site are transmitted to the controller away from
the site through a field bus. The controller can also send various control, maintenance,
and configuration commands to related devices through the field bus.
[0004] Existing field buses usually have an operation cycle at a millisecond level and a
bus bandwidth of 100 Mbit/s. Consequently, neither a requirement for a microsecond-level
or even lower latency in future industrial manufacturing can be met nor a requirement
for a high-bandwidth network in service scenarios such as machine vision and motion
control can be met. Therefore, a novel field bus technology with ultra-high bandwidth
and ultra-low latency is urgently needed.
SUMMARY
[0005] Embodiments of this application provide a system, a method, and an apparatus for
device control based on optical communication. Technical solutions are as follows:
[0006] According to a first aspect, this application provides a system for device control
based on optical communication. A device supporting optical communication is introduced
into a conventional system for device control. The system includes a first controller,
a first optical head-end, a first optical terminal, and a first field device. The
first controller communicates with the first field device through the first optical
head-end. The first field device communicates with the first controller through the
first optical terminal. The first optical head-end communicates with the first optical
terminal through an optical signal. The optical head-end and optical terminal devices
are introduced into the system for device control, so that the first controller and
the first field device can communicate with each other through an optical signal.
Because optical communication is featured in high bandwidth and low latency, communication
latency between the first controller and the first field device can be greatly reduced.
The communication between the first controller and the first field device can also
satisfy requirements of services such as machine vision and motion control that have
a high bandwidth requirement. The following describes the system through methods executed
by devices in a specific service process.
[0007] In a downlink direction, the first optical head-end obtains a first primary station
packet generated by the first controller. The first primary station packet includes
a first primary station data unit. The first primary station data unit includes a
destination identifier and first service data. The destination identifier included
in the first primary station data unit is an identifier of the first field device.
The first optical head-end constructs a first downlink transmission frame based on
the first primary station data unit, and sends the first downlink transmission frame
through an optical signal. The first downlink transmission frame includes the first
primary station data unit and a header field corresponding to the first primary station
data unit. The header field corresponding to the first primary station data unit includes
an identifier of the first optical terminal or a broadcast optical terminal identifier.
After receiving the first downlink transmission frame, the first optical terminal
determines, based on the identifier of the first optical terminal or the broadcast
optical terminal identifier included in the header field corresponding to the first
primary station data unit, whether the first primary station data unit is a to-be-processed
data unit. If the first primary station data unit is the to-be-processed data unit,
the first optical terminal determines, based on the identifier of the first field
device included in the first primary station data unit, that a destination recipient
of the first primary station data unit is the first field device, and sends the first
service data to the first field device, or operates or controls the first field device
based on the first service data. It should be noted that the broadcast optical terminal
identifier is a special optical terminal identifier, which has a value different from
any optical terminal identifier, and identifies a broadcast signal. If a header field
corresponding to a primary station data unit includes the broadcast optical terminal
identifier, destination recipients of the primary station data unit are all optical
terminals. When the header field corresponding to the first primary station data unit
includes the broadcast optical terminal identifier, the first optical terminal is
further configured to determine, based on the destination identifier included in the
first primary station data unit, that the first primary station data unit is the to-be-processed
data unit.
[0008] In an uplink direction, the first optical terminal obtains service data of the first
field device, and encapsulates the service data of the first field device into a first
uplink transmission subframe. The first uplink transmission subframe includes a header
field and a first secondary station data unit. The header field in the first uplink
transmission subframe includes the identifier of the first optical terminal. The first
secondary station data unit includes the service data of the first field device and
a source identifier. The source identifier in the first secondary station data unit
is the identifier of the first field device, and identifies a sender of the first
secondary station data unit. The first optical terminal sends the first uplink transmission
subframe through an optical signal. The first optical head-end receives a first uplink
transmission frame. The first uplink transmission frame includes the first uplink
transmission subframe.
[0009] The system for device control based on optical communication provided in this application
may include a plurality of field devices. The first controller may control the plurality
of field devices through the first optical head-end. For example, the system further
includes a second optical terminal and a second field device. The first controller
communicates with the second field device through the first optical head-end. The
second field device communicates with the first controller through the second optical
terminal. The first optical head-end and the second optical terminal communicate with
each other through an optical signal.
[0010] In the downlink direction, the first controller may include both a data unit whose
destination recipient is the first field device and a data unit whose destination
recipient is the second field device in a primary station packet to be delivered.
For example, the first primary station packet further includes a second primary station
data unit. The second primary station data unit includes a destination identifier
and second service data. The destination identifier included in the second primary
station data unit is an identifier of the second field device. The first downlink
transmission frame constructed by the first optical head-end further includes content
of the second primary station data unit. For example, the first downlink transmission
frame further includes the second primary station data unit and a header field corresponding
to the second primary station data unit. The header field corresponding to the second
primary station data unit includes an identifier of the second optical terminal or
the broadcast optical terminal identifier. The second optical terminal receives the
first downlink transmission frame, and determines, based on the identifier of the
second optical terminal or the broadcast optical terminal identifier included in the
header field corresponding to the second primary station data unit, that the second
primary station data unit included in a second downlink transmission subframe is a
to-be-processed data unit. The second optical terminal further sends the second service
data to the second field device based on the identifier of the second field device
included in the second primary station data unit, or operates or controls the second
field device based on the second service data. It should be noted that in the downlink
transmission frame, the second primary station data unit and the first primary station
data unit may correspond to different header fields, or may correspond to a same header
field. When the second primary station data unit and the first primary station data
unit correspond to a same header field, the header field includes the broadcast optical
terminal identifier. Because the broadcast optical terminal identifier cannot identify
a specific optical terminal, the first optical terminal and the second optical terminal
cannot determine, based on the broadcast optical terminal identifier included in the
header field, whether the first primary station data unit and the second primary station
data unit are to-be-processed data units. In this case, the first optical terminal
needs to further parse the first primary station data unit, and determine, based on
whether the field device identified by the destination identifier included in the
first primary station data unit is a field device connected to the first optical terminal,
so as to determine whether to control the connected field device based on the first
primary station data unit. The second optical terminal needs to further parse the
second primary station data unit, and determine, based on whether the field device
identified by the destination identifier included in the second primary station data
unit is a field device connected to the second optical terminal, so as to determine
whether to control the connected field device based on the second primary station
data unit. The first optical head-end parses and processes a packet sent by the first
controller, and encapsulates one or more primary station data units in the packet
that include the service data into a downlink transmission frame suitable for transmission
over an optical channel. Because an optical communication network formed by the optical
head-end and a plurality of optical terminals is a point-to-multipoint optical communication
network, transmission of a downlink transmission frame between the first optical head-end
and each optical terminal does not require use of another optical terminal or field
device for forwarding, thereby reducing transmission latency and improving communication
efficiency.
[0011] In the uplink direction, the second optical terminal obtains service data of the
second field device, and encapsulates the service data of the second field device
into a second uplink transmission subframe. The second uplink transmission subframe
includes a header field and a second secondary station data unit. The header field
in the second uplink transmission subframe includes the identifier of the second optical
terminal. The second secondary station data unit includes the service data of the
second field device and a source identifier. The source identifier in the second secondary
station data unit is the identifier of the second field device. The second optical
terminal sends the second uplink transmission subframe through an optical signal.
The first uplink transmission frame received by the first optical head-end further
includes the second uplink transmission subframe.
[0012] The first optical head-end forwards data based on a destination identifier included
in a data unit. For example, when the destination identifier included in the first
secondary station data unit is an identifier of the first controller, the first optical
head-end sends the first secondary station data unit to the first controller. When
the destination identifier included in the first secondary station data unit is the
identifier of the second field device, the first optical head-end constructs a second
downlink transmission frame based on the first secondary station data unit, and sends,
through the second downlink transmission frame, the first secondary station data unit
to the second optical terminal corresponding to the second field device. In this way,
a field device can communicate with a controller through an optical terminal, different
field devices can communicate based on optical transmission, and low-latency and high-bandwidth
communication can be achieved between field devices.
[0013] The system for device control based on optical communication provided in this application
may include a plurality of controllers. For example, the system further includes a
second controller, a second optical head-end, a third optical terminal, and a third
field device. The second controller communicates with the third field device through
the second optical head-end. The third field device communicates with the second controller
through the third optical terminal. The second optical head-end and the third optical
terminal communicate with each other through an optical signal.
[0014] The first controller and the second controller may communicate with each other through
an optical head-end. The first optical head-end receives a second primary station
packet sent by the first controller. The second primary station packet includes a
third primary station data unit. The third primary station data unit includes a destination
identifier and third service data. The destination identifier included in the third
primary station data unit is an identifier of the second controller. The first optical
head-end determines, based on the destination identifier in the third primary station
data unit, that a destination recipient of the third primary station data unit is
the second controller, further determines a MAC address of the second optical head-end
corresponding to the second controller, and sends the third primary station data unit
to the second optical head-end based on the MAC address of the second optical head-end.
After receiving the third primary station data unit, the second optical head-end sends
the third primary station data unit to the second controller based on the destination
identifier in the third primary station data unit. It can be learned that, in the
system provided in this application, different controllers can also communicate with
each other through an optical head-end.
[0015] Not only the controllers can communicate with each other, but also field devices
controlled by the different controllers can communicate with each other. In a possible
implementation, the first optical terminal encapsulates the service data of the first
field device into a third uplink transmission subframe. The third uplink transmission
subframe includes a header field and a third secondary station data unit. The header
field in the third uplink transmission subframe includes the identifier of the first
optical terminal. The third secondary station data unit includes the service data
of the first field device, a source identifier, and a destination identifier. The
source identifier in the third secondary station data unit is the identifier of the
first field device. The destination identifier included in the third secondary station
data unit is an identifier of the third field device. The first optical terminal sends
the third uplink transmission subframe to the first optical head-end through an optical
signal. The first optical head-end receives the third uplink transmission subframe,
determines, based on the destination identifier included in the third secondary station
data unit, the MAC address of the second optical head-end corresponding to the second
controller, and sends the third secondary station data unit to the second optical
head-end based on the MAC address of the second optical head-end. The second optical
head-end receives the third secondary station data unit, constructs a third downlink
transmission frame based on the third secondary station data unit, and sends the third
downlink transmission frame through an optical signal. The third downlink transmission
frame includes the third secondary station data unit and a header field corresponding
to the third secondary station data unit. The header field corresponding to the third
secondary station data unit includes an identifier of the third optical terminal or
the broadcast optical terminal identifier. The third optical terminal receives the
third downlink transmission frame, and determines, based on the identifier of the
third optical terminal or the broadcast optical terminal identifier included in the
header field corresponding to the third secondary station data unit, that the third
secondary station data unit is a to-be-processed data unit. The third optical terminal
further sends the service data of the first field device to the third field device
based on the identifier of the third field device included in the third secondary
station data unit.
[0016] In the system provided in this application, an optical head-end not only can send,
to any field device through an optical signal, service data or a control instruction
sent by a controller to the field device, but also can send, to all field devices
in a broadcast manner, service data or a control instruction sent by the controller
to all the field devices. For example, the first controller controls N field devices.
N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The first optical head-end receives a
third primary station packet sent by the first controller. The third primary station
packet includes a fourth primary station data unit. The fourth primary station data
unit includes a destination identifier and fourth service data. The destination identifier
included in the fourth primary station data unit is a broadcast secondary station
identifier. The broadcast secondary station identifier is different from any secondary
station identifier, and indicates that the primary station data unit is to-be-broadcast
data. The first optical head-end constructs a fourth downlink transmission frame based
on the fourth primary station data unit, and sends the fourth downlink transmission
frame through an optical signal. The fourth downlink transmission frame includes a
header field and the fourth primary station data unit. The header field includes the
broadcast optical terminal identifier. A J
th optical terminal receives the fourth downlink transmission frame, and determines,
based on the broadcast optical terminal identifier included in the header field in
the fourth downlink transmission frame, that the fourth primary station data unit
is a to-be-processed data unit. The J
th optical terminal is an optical terminal corresponding to any one of the N field devices.
The J
th optical terminal sends, based on the broadcast secondary station identifier included
in the fourth primary station data unit, the fourth service data included in the fourth
primary station data unit to the field device corresponding to the J
th optical terminal.
[0017] In a possible implementation, communication between the optical head-ends and the
optical terminals is based on any PON protocol, an identifier of any optical head-end
and an identifier of any optical terminal each are a passive optical network PON identifier,
and a type of the PON identifier includes but is not limited to a gigabit-capable
passive optical network encapsulation mode GEM port identifier and an Ethernet passive
optical network EPON logical link identifier LLID.
[0018] In a possible implementation, a packet transmitted between the first controller and
the first optical head-end is an Ethernet packet. The Ethernet packet further includes
at least one of the following fields: a destination MAC address, a source MAC address,
an Ethernet type, a timestamp, and a frame check sequence. The destination MAC address
is a MAC address of the first optical head-end, and the source MAC address is a MAC
address of the first controller.
[0019] In a possible implementation, any downlink transmission frame and any uplink transmission
frame are in a GEM frame format, and a header field included in any downlink transmission
frame and a header field included in any uplink transmission frame each are a GEM
frame header field.
[0020] In a possible implementation, any primary station data unit and any secondary station
data unit each further include at least one of the following fields: a data type,
an operation type, a secondary station operation address offset, a payload length,
a packet sequence number, a priority, a last packet data unit indication, a secondary
station event, a response error code, and the like. The first optical terminal sends,
to the first field device, the operation type and the secondary station operation
address offset that are included in the first primary station data unit, or operates
or controls the first field device based on the operation type and the secondary station
operation address offset. In a possible implementation, a data type indicated by the
data type field includes any one of the following data types: periodic real-time data,
random access data, management data, and security data. When the data type indicated
by the data type field is the periodic real-time data or the random access data, a
command type indicated by the operation type field includes any one of the following
types: a read operation, a write operation, a read/write operation, a broadcast write
operation, and a loopback test. When the data type indicated by the data type field
is the management data, a command type indicated by the operation type field includes
any one of the following types: a read operation, a read response operation, a set
operation, and a set response operation.
[0021] According to a second aspect, this application provides a method for device control
based on optical communication. The method is performed by a controller, an optical
head-end, an optical terminal, and a field device in cooperation. For details of the
method performed by the devices, refer to the description of the first aspect. Details
are not described herein again.
[0022] According to a third aspect, an optical head-end is provided. The optical head-end
includes at least one unit. The at least one unit is configured to implement the method
according to the first aspect or any one of the optional implementations of the first
aspect. In a possible implementation, a unit in the optical head-end is implemented
through software, and the unit in the optical head-end is a program module. In a possible
implementation, a unit in the optical head-end is implemented through hardware or
firmware. In a possible implementation, the optical head-end includes a head-end service
module, a head-end Ethernet module, a head-end point-to-multipoint module, and a head-end
optical module, and optionally, may further include a controller module. The head-end
service module is configured to identify a service data flow direction based on a
destination identifier included in a data unit, and forward the data unit to the controller,
the head-end Ethernet module, or the head-end point-to-multipoint module. The head-end
Ethernet module is configured to provide an Ethernet interface, such as FE, GE, or
10GE, to receive and send Ethernet packets. The head-end point-to-multipoint module
is configured to receive the data unit from the head-end service module, encapsulate
the data unit into a downlink transmission frame suitable for transmission in a point-to-multipoint
optical communication network, and send the downlink transmission frame through the
head-end optical module. The head-end optical module is configured to provide an optical
communication interface to send and receive optical signals. For specific details
of the optical head-end provided in the third aspect, refer to the first aspect. Details
are not described herein again.
[0023] According to a fourth aspect, an optical terminal is provided. The optical terminal
includes at least one unit. The at least one unit is configured to implement the method
according to the second aspect or any one of the optional implementations of the second
aspect. In a possible implementation, a unit in the optical terminal is implemented
through software, and the unit in the optical terminal is a program module. In a possible
implementation, a unit in the optical terminal is implemented through hardware or
firmware. In a possible implementation, the optical terminal includes a terminal optical
module, a terminal point-to-multipoint module, and a terminal service module, and
optionally, may further include a device control module. The terminal optical module
is configured to provide an optical communication interface to send and receive optical
signals. The optical signal may be of a single wavelength or a multiwavelength. The
terminal point-to-multipoint module is configured to receive a downlink transmission
frame in a downlink direction, parse the downlink transmission frame to obtain a data
unit, and send the data unit to the terminal service module. The terminal point-to-multipoint
module is configured to receive a secondary station data unit from the terminal service
module in an uplink direction, encapsulate the secondary station data unit into an
uplink transmission frame, and send the uplink transmission frame to an optical head-end
through the terminal optical module. The terminal service module is further configured
to parse the data unit in the downlink direction, and send service data in the data
unit to the device control module or a field device. The terminal service module may
further determine, based on a destination identifier carried in the data unit, whether
the destination identifier is an identifier of a field device connected to the optical
terminal, to determine whether the data unit needs to be processed. The terminal service
module is further configured to receive service data from the device control module
or the field device in the uplink direction, encapsulate the service data into a data
unit, and send the data unit to the terminal point-to-multipoint module. For specific
details of the optical terminal provided in the fourth aspect, refer to the first
aspect. Details are not described herein again.
[0024] According to a fifth aspect, another optical head-end is provided. The optical head-end
includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is configured to execute instructions,
to enable the optical head-end to perform the method according to the first aspect
or the second aspect. The transceiver is configured to send and receive signals or
data. For specific details of the optical head-end provided in the fifth aspect, refer
to the first aspect. Details are not described herein again.
[0025] According to a sixth aspect, another optical terminal is provided. The optical terminal
includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is configured to execute instructions,
to enable the optical terminal to perform the method according to the first aspect
or the second aspect. The transceiver is configured to send and receive signals or
data. For specific details of the optical terminal provided in the sixth aspect, refer
to the first aspect. Details are not described herein again.
[0026] According to a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The
storage medium stores at least one instruction. When the at least one instruction
is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to the
first aspect.
[0027] According to an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer
program product includes one or more computer program instructions. When the one or
more computer program instructions are loaded and run by a computer, the computer
is enabled to perform the method according to the first aspect.
[0028] According to a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, including a memory and a processor.
The memory is configured to store computer instructions. The processor is configured
to invoke and run the computer instructions from the memory, to perform the method
according to the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first
aspect.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0029]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of an industrial manufacturing network;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a system for device control based
on optical communication according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of another system for device control
based on optical communication according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of logical functions of an optical head-end
according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of logical functions of an optical terminal
according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a primary station packet according
to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a downlink transmission frame according
to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an uplink transmission frame according
to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another downlink transmission frame
according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 10 is a schematic flowchart of a method for controlling a field device by a controller
through an optical communication network according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 11 is a schematic flowchart of a method for communication between field devices
through an optical communication network according to an embodiment of this application;
FIG. 12 is a schematic flowchart of a method for communication between field devices
across PLCs through an optical communication network according to an embodiment of
this application; and
FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an optical head-end or an optical
terminal according to an embodiment of this application.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0030] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer,
the following further describes implementations of this application in detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 1, an industrial manufacturing network in a factory may be divided
into three levels: a factory-level network, a workshop-level network, and a field-level
network. The factory-level network is used for data communication between a supply
chain management system, an enterprise resource planning system, a warehousing management
system, and other systems of the factory. The workshop-level network is used for communication
between a plurality of controllers in one or more workshops. The field-level network
is used at a production site to provide communication between field devices and between
a field device and a controller. In the field-level network, a typical form of the
controller is a programmable logic controller (programmable logic controller, PLC).
Alternatively, the controller is a hardware device having a computing processing capability
other than the PLC, for example, a motion controller. The controller may also be referred
to as a primary station or a head-end. The field device includes a mechanical arm,
a relay, a machine tool, a cutter, and the like, and may also be referred to as a
secondary station or a terminal. Currently, there are a variety of field bus technologies
used in the field-level network, such as EtherCAT and POWERLINK. However, POWERLINK
has large latency that is approximately at a millisecond ms level. EtherCAT implements
packet forwarding based on hardware, and a time for an EtherCAT packet to pass through
each secondary station is short. However, because a packet sent by a primary station
needs to pass through all secondary station nodes, communication between the primary
station and the secondary station still suffers from large communication latency when
there are a large quantity of secondary station nodes. With development of the manufacturing
industry, a controller needs to perform more precise, real-time, and complex control
on a field device. Therefore, a field bus technology with low latency and high bandwidth
is needed.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention provides a system for device control based
on optical communication or a field bus architecture. The system for device control
shown in FIG. 2 includes a controller 1, field devices (for example, a field device
11, a field device 12, and a field device 13 shown in the figure), an optical head-end
1 corresponding to the controller 1, and optical terminals (for example, an optical
terminal 11, an optical terminal 12, and an optical terminal 13 shown in the figure)
corresponding to the field devices. The optical head-end and the optical terminals
perform optical communication through an optical distribution network. The optical
terminals and the field devices may be in a one-to-one relationship, or may be in
a one-to-many relationship, that is, one optical terminal corresponds to a plurality
of field devices. The optical head-end needs to record and manage the correspondence
between the optical terminals and the field devices. The optical head-end 1, a plurality
of optical terminals, and the optical distribution network form a point-to-multipoint
optical communication network. The optical distribution network may include an optical
fiber, an optical coupler, an optical splitter, a splitter, or other devices. A device
in the optical distribution network is a passive optical device. To be specific, the
device in the optical distribution network does not require a power supply when transmitting
and distributing an optical signal. Using an optical splitter (Splitter) as an example,
the optical splitter may be connected to the optical head-end 1 through a feeder fiber,
and connected to the plurality of optical terminals through a plurality of distribution
fibers, to achieve point-to-multipoint connection between the one optical head-end
and the plurality of optical terminals to implement a point-to-multipoint optical
splitting or combining function. The splitter may be a one-stage splitter or a multi-stage
splitter, and the optical splitter may also be an even fiber or an uneven fiber. The
optical distribution network splits a downlink optical signal from the optical head-end
into a plurality of optical signals, and distributes the plurality of optical signals
to the optical terminals; and combines uplink optical signals from the plurality of
optical terminals into one optical signal, and sends the one optical signal to the
optical head-end. The uplink optical signals sent by the optical terminals and each
carrying a secondary station data unit are combined into one optical signal through
the optical distribution network, and sent to the optical head-end. In this application,
the term uplink or downlink indicates a signal flow direction. Uplink means to a direction
from an optical terminal to an optical head-end, and downlink means a direction from
an optical head-end to an optical terminal. An uplink or downlink optical signal includes
service data. The service data includes but is not limited to a signal or an instruction
used for controlling a field device, data that is queried, acquired, or reported by
a field device, and the like. The service data is encapsulated in a data unit. For
ease of description and understanding, in this application, a data unit that encapsulates
service data sent by a controller is referred to as a primary station data unit, and
a data unit that encapsulates service data sent by a field device is referred to as
a secondary station data unit. It should also be noted that names of the devices in
the system shown in FIG. 2 are merely examples. In a specific implementation, the
names of the devices may also be other names. This is not specifically limited in
this application. For example, an optical head-end may also be referred to as an optical
controller, an optical primary station, an optical communication device, or the like.
An optical terminal may also be referred to as an optical secondary station, an optical
communication device, or the like.
[0033] In a possible implementation, the point-to-multipoint optical communication network
may be a passive optical network (passive optical network, PON), and includes a next-generation
PON (next-generation PON, NG-PON), NG-PON1, NG-PON2, gigabit-capable PON (gigabit-capable
PON, GPON), 10-gigabit-per-second PON (10-gigabit-per-second PON, XG-PON), 10-gigabit-capable
symmetric passive optical network (10-gigabit-capable symmetric passive optical network,
XGS-PON), Ethernet PON (Ethernet PON, EPON), 10-gigabit-per-second EPON (10-gigabit-per-second
EPON, 10G-EPON), next-generation EPON (next-generation EPON, NG-EPON), wavelength-division
multiplexing (wavelength-division multiplexing, WDM) PON, time- and wavelength-division
multiplexing (time- and wavelength-division multiplexing, TWDM) PON, point-to-point
(point-to-point, P2P) WDM PON (P2P-WDM PON), asynchronous transfer mode PON (asynchronous
transfer mode PON, APON), broadband PON (broadband PON, BPON), 25-gigabit-per-second
PON (25-gigabit-per-second PON, 25G-PON), 50-gigabit-per-second PON (50-gigabit-per-second
PON, 50G-PON), 100-gigabit-per-second PON (100-gigabit-per-second PON, 100G-PON),
25-gigabit-per-second EPON (25-gigabit-per-second EPON, 25G-EPON), 50-gigabit-per-second
EPON (50-gigabit-per-second EPON, 50G-EPON), 100-gigabit-per-second EPON (100-gigabit-per-second
EPON, 100G-EPON), GPONs and EPONs having other rates, and the like. When the point-to-multipoint
optical communication network is a PON network, a function of the optical head-end
in FIG. 2 may be specifically implemented by an optical line terminal (optical line
terminal, OLT), and a function of the optical terminal may be specifically implemented
by an optical network unit (optical network unit, ONU) or an optical network terminal
(optical network terminal, ONT). In other words, the OLT may implement the function
of the optical head-end, and the ONT or the ONU may implement the function of the
optical terminal. The optical head-end and the optical terminal communicate with each
other using any PON communication mechanism and protocol. For example, the optical
head-end allocates different uplink slots to the optical terminals, and each optical
terminal sends uplink data or an uplink transmission frame in the uplink slot allocated
by the optical head-end to the optical terminal. This ensures that the uplink data
sent by the optical terminals does not conflict or interfere with each other during
transmission. A specific PON communication mechanism and protocol are not described
in detail herein.
[0034] The controller 1 and the optical head-end 1 may be deployed separately, or may be
deployed in an integrated manner. When the controller 1 and the optical head-end 1
are deployed separately, an interface between the controller 1 and the optical head-end
1 may be one of an Ethernet interface (FE, GE, or 10GE), a PCIE interface, or another
interface. When the optical head-end 1 and the controller 1 are deployed in an integrated
manner, the interface between the optical head-end 1 and the controller 1 is a software
transceiver interface in a same device. The optical terminal and the field device
may be deployed separately, or may be deployed in an integrated manner. Using the
optical terminal 11 and the field device 11 as an example, when the optical terminal
11 and the field device 11 are deployed separately, an interface between the optical
terminal 11 and the field device 11 may be one of an Ethernet interface (FE, GE, or
10GE), an SPI interface, or a servo motor monitoring and driving interface (AD, GPIO,
RS422, PWM control, or the like). When the optical terminal 11 and the field device
11 are deployed in an integrated manner, the interface between the optical terminal
11 and the field device 11 is a software transceiver interface in a same device.
[0035] The system for device control shown in FIG. 2 may further include a plurality of
groups of controllers and corresponding field devices. As shown in FIG. 3, the system
includes two controllers, namely, a controller 1 and a controller 2, each of which
controls one or more field devices. In this case, the controller 1 and the controller
2 may communicate through an interface between an optical head-end 1 and an optical
head-end 2. Through the interface between the optical head-end 1 and the optical head-end
2, a field device controlled by the controller 1 may also communicate with a field
device controlled by the controller 2.
[0036] The following separately describes the devices or apparatuses shown in FIG. 2 or
FIG. 3.
[0037] An optical head-end mainly sends and receives service data in a point-to-multipoint
optical communication network. For example, FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram
of possible logical functions of an optical head-end according to this application.
An optical head-end 400 may include the following logical function modules: a controller
module 401, a head-end service module 402, a head-end Ethernet module 403, a head-end
point-to-multipoint module 404, and a head-end optical module 405.
[0038] Controller module 401: As described above, the controller and the optical head-end
may be deployed in an integrated manner. In the case of integrated deployment, the
optical head-end includes a controller module to implement logic control programming
of a field device, and a computing capability of the field device may further be implemented
in this module, to reduce performance requirements on hardware or software of the
field device. It should be noted that the controller described in this application
may be the controller module 401 deployed in an integrated manner with the optical
head-end, or may be a controller deployed separately from the optical head-end.
[0039] The head-end service module 402 is configured to identify a service data flow direction
based on a destination identifier included in a data unit, and forward the data unit
to the controller module 401 (or an external controller), the head-end Ethernet module
403, or the head-end point-to-multipoint module 404. Specifically, the head-end service
module 402 is further configured to receive a packet sent by a controller, where the
packet is also referred to as a primary station packet. As shown in FIG. 6, the primary
station packet includes a header field and at least one primary station data unit;
if a destination node identified by a destination identifier in a primary station
data unit is a field device controlled by the controller, sends the primary station
data unit to the head-end point-to-multipoint module 404; and if the destination node
identified by the destination identifier in a primary station data unit is another
controller or a field device controlled by another controller, send the primary station
data unit to the head-end Ethernet module 403. The head-end service module 402 is
further configured to: receive a secondary station data unit sent by the head-end
point-to-multipoint module 404; if a destination node identified by a destination
identifier in the secondary station data unit is a controller, send the secondary
station data unit to the controller; and if the destination node identified by the
destination identifier in the secondary station data unit is another controller or
a field device controlled by another controller, send the secondary station data unit
to the head-end Ethernet module 403. The head-end service module 402 is further configured
to: receive a packet sent by the head-end Ethernet module 403; if a destination node
identified by a destination identifier in a data unit in the packet is a controller,
send the data unit to the controller; and if the destination node identified by the
destination identifier in the data unit is a field device controlled by a controller,
send the data unit to the head-end point-to-multipoint module 404. Optionally, when
the packet sent by the controller carries a plurality of primary station data units,
the head-end service module 402 further needs to record a sequence of the plurality
of primary station data units based on a destination identifier included in each of
the primary station data units. Subsequently, after receiving secondary station data
units of field devices, the head-end service module 402 adjusts a sequence of a plurality
of secondary station data units based on identifiers of the field devices and the
sequence of the primary station data units, so that the sequence of the plurality
of secondary station data units sent to the controller is consistent with the sequence
of the plurality of primary station data units in the primary station packet.
[0040] The head-end Ethernet module 403 is configured to provide an Ethernet interface,
such as FE, GE, or 10GE, to receive and send Ethernet packets.
[0041] The head-end point-to-multipoint module 404 is configured to receive the data unit
from the head-end service module, encapsulate the data unit into a downlink transmission
frame suitable for transmission in a point-to-multipoint optical communication network,
and send the downlink transmission frame through the head-end optical module 405.
The head-end point-to-multipoint module 404 is further configured to receive an uplink
transmission frame from a field device, and sends a data unit in the uplink transmission
frame to the head-end service module 402 for processing. In a possible implementation,
a downlink transmission frame includes at least one downlink transmission subframe,
as shown in FIG. 7. The uplink transmission frame includes at least one uplink transmission
subframe, as shown in FIG. 8. The downlink or uplink transmission subframe includes
a header field and a data unit. The header field in the downlink transmission subframe
includes a destination identifier, and a value of the destination identifier is an
identifier of an optical terminal. The optical terminal determines, based on the identifier
of the optical terminal in the header field, whether the data unit in the downlink
transmission subframe needs to be processed. Frame formats of the downlink transmission
subframe and the uplink transmission subframe are not limited. For example, a GPON
encapsulation mode (GPON encapsulation mode/method, GEM) frame format based on any
GPON protocol may be used. In another possible implementation, a downlink data frame
includes a header field and a plurality of data units, as shown in FIG. 9. A value
of a destination identifier included in the header field is a broadcast optical terminal
identifier. The broadcast optical terminal identifier is a specific optical terminal
identifier for use in a broadcast scenario. When the frame structure shown in FIG.
9 is used, each optical terminal cannot identify, based on the destination identifier
in the header field, a data unit that needs to be processed, and needs to parse the
data units one by one and determine, based on an identifier of a field device in each
data unit, whether the data unit needs to be processed. Compared with the downlink
transmission frame shown in FIG. 7, the downlink transmission frame shown in FIG.
9 has a simpler structure than that of the downlink transmission frame shown in FIG.
7, but has lower data security than that of the solution in FIG. 7.
[0042] The head-end optical module 405 is configured to provide an optical communication
interface to send and receive optical signals. The optical signal may be of a single
wavelength or a multiwavelength.
[0043] It should be noted that the foregoing division of the function modules of the optical
head-end is only a possible implementation, and functions of the foregoing modules
may alternatively be integrated or divided in other manners. For example, the head-end
service module 402 and the head-end point-to-multipoint module 404 may be integrated
into one function module.
[0044] An optical terminal sends and receives service data in a point-to-multipoint optical
communication network. The optical terminal extracts a to-be-processed downlink transmission
subframe from a received downlink optical signal, and sends service data carried in
the downlink transmission subframe to a field device. The optical terminal receives
service data sent by a field device, encapsulates the service data into an uplink
transmission subframe, converts the uplink transmission subframe into an optical signal,
and sends the optical signal to an optical head-end through the point-to-multipoint
optical communication network. For example, FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram
of possible logical functions of an optical terminal according to this application.
An optical terminal 500 may include the following logical function modules: a terminal
optical module 501, a terminal point-to-multipoint module 502, a terminal service
module 503, and a device control module 504.
[0045] The terminal optical module 501 is configured to provide an optical communication
interface to send and receive optical signals. The optical signal may be of a single
wavelength or a multiwavelength.
[0046] The terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 is configured to receive a downlink transmission
frame in a downlink direction, parse the downlink transmission frame to obtain a data
unit, and send the data unit to the terminal service module 503. If the downlink transmission
frame is in the encapsulation format shown in FIG. 7, the terminal point-to-multipoint
module 502 checks whether an optical terminal identifier included in the header field
of each downlink transmission subframe is an identifier of the optical terminal; if
yes, sends the data unit included in the downlink transmission subframe to the terminal
service module 503 for further processing; and if not, stops processing the downlink
transmission subframe. If the downlink transmission frame is in the encapsulation
format shown in FIG. 9, the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 parses the data
units one by one; determines whether a field device identifier carried in each data
unit is an identifier of a field device connected to the optical terminal; if yes,
sends the data unit to the terminal service module 503 for further processing; and
if not, discards the data unit. In an uplink direction, the terminal point-to-multipoint
module 502 is configured to receive a secondary station data unit from the terminal
service module 503, encapsulate the secondary station data unit into an uplink transmission
frame, and send the uplink transmission frame to an optical head-end through the terminal
optical module 501. It should be noted that an uplink optical signal received by an
optical head-end is an optical signal obtained through combination by an optical distribution
network, and includes uplink signals of a plurality of optical terminals. Therefore,
an uplink transmission frame in an uplink optical signal received by an optical head-end
includes uplink transmission subframes sent by a plurality of optical terminals, and
each uplink transmission subframe is an uplink transmission frame sent by one optical
terminal.
[0047] The terminal service module 503 is configured to parse the data unit in the downlink
direction, and send service data in the data unit to the device control module 504
or a field device. The terminal service module 503 may further determine, based on
a destination identifier carried in the data unit, whether the destination identifier
is an identifier of a field device connected to the optical terminal, to determine
whether the data unit needs to be processed. The terminal service module 503 is further
configured to receive service data from the device control module 504 or the field
device in the uplink direction, encapsulate the service data into a data unit, and
send the data unit to the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502. It should be noted
that when the downlink transmission frame is in the encapsulation format shown in
FIG. 9, because the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 already parses the data
unit, the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 may directly send service data included
in a downlink data unit to the device control module 504 or a field device.
[0048] Device control module 504: As described above, the optical terminal and the field
device may be deployed in an integrated manner, or may be deployed separately. In
the case of integrated deployment, the device control module 504 may be understood
as a module for controlling the field device. It should be noted that the field device
described in this application may be a field device that is deployed in an integrated
manner with the optical terminal, or may be a field device that is deployed separately
from the optical terminal.
[0049] It should be noted that the foregoing division of the function modules of the optical
terminal is only a possible implementation, and functions of the foregoing modules
may alternatively be integrated or divided in other manners. For example, the terminal
service module 503 and the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 may be integrated
into one function module.
[0050] From the foregoing description of the system for device control shown in FIG. 2 and
FIG. 3, it can be learned that because the controller communicates with the field
device through a point-to-multipoint optical network formed by the optical head-end
and the optical terminals, communication between the controller and any field device
does not require use of another field device for forwarding, thereby greatly reducing
communication latency. In addition, fiber optic communication can better meet requirements
of future industrial control scenarios (such as motion control and machine vision)
for high bandwidth. In addition, because optical communication is not easily affected
by electromagnetic radiation, bit errors caused by the electromagnetic radiation can
be avoided.
[0051] The following describes a process of controlling a field device by a controller according
to this application with reference to a method flowchart shown in FIG. 10. A method
procedure shown in FIG. 10 is applicable to the system for device control shown in
FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. For networking and connection relationships between a controller,
an optical head-end, an optical terminal, and a field device in FIG. 10, refer to
descriptions corresponding to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Details are not described herein
again. It should also be noted that although FIG. 10 shows only one optical terminal
and a field device connected to the optical terminal, there may be more than one optical
terminal and field device connected to the optical head-end in practice. In FIG. 10,
one optical terminal and one field device are used as an example to describe a method
procedure performed by the optical terminal and the field device.
[0052] 1001: The controller sends a control instruction for controlling the field device.
The control instruction is encapsulated in the primary station packet shown in FIG.
6. The primary station packet may be specifically a packet in an Ethernet packet format.
Table 1 lists fields that may be included in the primary station packet. The header
field in FIG. 6 may include a DA field, an SA field, and an EtherType field in Table
1, and any primary station data unit in FIG. 6 corresponds to PDUn in Table 1.
Table 1
Field name |
Field description |
Destination Address (DA)/Destination address |
Destination address of a packet |
Source Address (SA)/Source address |
Source address from which the packet is sent |
EtherType/Ethernet type |
Ethernet type |
PDUn/Data unit |
Carrying service data |
[0053] The DA field identifies an address of a destination node of the packet. In the message
in 1001, a value of this field may be a MAC address of the optical head-end. The SA
field identifies an address of a source node of the packet. In the message in 1001,
a value of this field may be a MAC address of the controller. The EtherType field
identifies a type of an upper-layer protocol. The primary station packet includes
at least one PDU. PDUn represents any one of the at least one PDU and is used for
carrying service data. The PDU includes at least a source identifier, a destination
identifier, and the service data. A possible PDU structure is shown in Table 2.
Table 2
Bit (bit) offset |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Type/Data type |
cmd/Operation type |
Destination ID/Destination identifier |
SourceID/Source identifier |
offset1/Offset address 1 |
offset0/Offset address 0 |
len1/Payload length 1 |
len0/Payload length 0 |
payload/Payload |
[0054] The destination identifier identifies a destination node identifier of the data unit.
The source identifier identifies a source station identifier of the data unit. In
the message in 1001, the destination node identifier in the PDU is an identifier of
a field device (where the identifier of the field device may also be referred to as
a secondary station identifier), and the source station identifier is an identifier
of the controller (where the identifier of the controller may also be referred to
as a primary station identifier). Content and a format of the service data are not
limited in this application. The service data may be encapsulated in the payload field
shown in Table 2. In addition to the payload field, one or more fields such as a data
type field, an operation type field, and an offset address field may further be included.
A data type that may be indicated by the data type field includes periodic real-time
data, random access data, management data, security data, and the like. When the data
type indicated by the data type field is the periodic real-time data or the random
access data, a command type indicated by the operation type field may include a read
operation, a write operation, a read/write operation, a broadcast write operation,
a loopback test, and the like. When the data type indicated by the data type field
is the management data, a command type indicated by the operation type field may include
a read operation, a read response operation, a set operation, a set response operation,
and the like. In Table 2, the offset address field occupies 12 bits, and the offset
address field indicates a logical start offset address on which a secondary station
needs to perform an operation. If all addresses need to be operated, the offset address
may be set to 0. In addition to the fields shown in Table 2, the data unit may further
include other fields, as shown in Table 3.
Table 3
Bit bit offset |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
Type/Data type |
cmd/Operation type |
Destination ID/Destination identifier |
SourceID/Source identifier |
offset 1/Offset address 1 |
offset0/Offset address 0 |
len1/Payload length 1 |
len0/Payload length 0 |
sn/Packet sequence number |
pri/Packet priority |
r/Reserved |
eop _ind/Last PDU indication |
r/Reserved |
r/Reserved |
r/Reserved |
event/Event |
err_code/Error code |
payload/Payload |
[0055] The packet sequence number field is used for indicating a sequence number of a primary
station packet sent by a primary station controller, and the secondary station carries
a same sequence number value in a response message. In this way, after receiving service
data of the secondary station, the primary station may learn, based on the packet
sequence number, a primary station packet corresponding to the service data reported
by the secondary station. The packet priority field is used for indicating a priority
of the packet. The eop_ind field is used for indicating whether the PDU is a last
PDU in the packet. The event field and the error code field are generally used by
the secondary station to report a secondary station event and an error type to the
primary station. In the primary station packet in 1001, the event field and the error
code field in the PDU may be set to null.
[0056] 1003: After receiving the primary station control instruction, the optical head-end
determines, based on the secondary station identifier included in the PDU in the primary
station packet, that the destination node of the PDU is the secondary station or the
field device, then encapsulates one or more PDUs in the primary station packet into
a downlink transmission frame suitable for transmission in a point-to-multipoint optical
communication network, and sends the downlink transmission frame through an optical
signal. In addition to the one or more PDUs, the downlink transmission frame further
includes a header field part. The header field part includes an identifier of the
optical terminal, to indicate an optical terminal that needs to receive and process
each PDU. It should be noted that when the point-to-multipoint optical transmission
network is a GPON network, the identifier of the optical terminal may be a GEM port
identifier of the optical terminal. When the point-to-multipoint optical transmission
network is an EPON network, the identifier of the optical terminal may be a logical
link identifier LLID of the optical terminal. In a possible implementation, the optical
head-end generates one header field part for each PDU, and each PDU and the header
field part corresponding to the PDU form one downlink transmission subframe, as shown
in FIG. 7. Assuming that a field device corresponding to a destination identifier
or a secondary station identifier in a PDU is a field device 1, an identifier of an
optical terminal included in a header field corresponding to the PDU is an identifier
of the optical terminal 1. In another possible implementation, all the PDUs in the
downlink transmission frame correspond to a same header field, as shown in FIG. 9.
In this case, the identifier of the optical terminal included in the header field
in the downlink transmission frame is no longer an identifier of a specific optical
terminal, but is a broadcast optical terminal identifier, for example, a wildcard
identifier or a preset value. The broadcast optical terminal identifier is used for
indicating each optical terminal to parse all the PDUs, and determine, based on the
secondary station identifiers included in the PDUs and an identifier of a field device
connected to the optical terminal, which PDU should be used for controlling a connected
secondary station. Optionally, the optical head-end may further record, based on the
destination identifiers in the PDUs, a sequence of a plurality of PDUs included in
the primary station packet; and subsequently after receiving secondary station data
units of field devices, adjust a sequence of a plurality of secondary station data
units based on identifiers of the field devices and the sequence of the plurality
of PDUs included in the primary station packet, so that the sequence of the plurality
of secondary station data units sent to the controller is consistent with the sequence
of the plurality of primary station data units in the primary station packet.
[0057] 1005: The optical terminal receives the downlink transmission frame sent by the optical
head-end, parses the downlink transmission frame, and sends the primary station control
instruction to the corresponding field device. When a format of the downlink transmission
frame is the format shown in FIG. 7, the optical terminal parses a header field of
each downlink transmission subframe; and if a destination identifier included in the
header field in the downlink transmission subframe is an identifier corresponding
to the optical terminal, continues to process the data unit in the downlink transmission
subframe. When the format of the downlink transmission frame is the format shown in
FIG. 9, the optical terminal parses the PDUs one by one; determines whether the secondary
station identifier included in each PDU is an identifier of a field device connected
to the optical terminal; and if yes, continues to process the PDU. For the PDU that
needs to be further processed, the optical terminal parses out service data in the
PDU, and sends the service data to the field device corresponding to the secondary
station identifier. For content that may be included in the service data, refer to
the description of Table 2 or Table 3.
[0058] 1007: After performing an operation based on the primary station control instruction,
the field device returns secondary station service data to the optical terminal. The
secondary station service data may be content of the payload part in Table 2 or Table
3, or may further include content of other fields in Table 2 and Table 3, such as
the secondary station event field and the error code field.
[0059] 1009: The optical terminal receives the secondary station service data, encapsulates
the secondary station service data into the PDU format shown in Table 2 or Table 3,
further encapsulates the secondary station service data in the PDU format into an
uplink transmission frame suitable for transmission in the point-to-multipoint optical
transmission network, and then sends the uplink transmission frame through an optical
signal. A frame format of the uplink transmission frame may be a GPON encapsulation
mode (GPON encapsulation mode/method, GEM) frame format of any GPON protocol. In a
possible implementation, the uplink transmission frame is encapsulated into the format
of the uplink transmission frame shown in FIG. 8, and one header field is generated
for each PDU. The header field corresponding to the PDU includes the identifier of
the optical terminal, to identify an optical terminal from which the PDU comes. It
should be noted that when the point-to-multipoint optical transmission network is
a GPON network, the identifier of the optical terminal may be a GEM port identifier
of the optical terminal. When the point-to-multipoint optical transmission network
is an EPON network, the identifier of the optical terminal may be a logical link identifier
LLID of the optical terminal. The destination identifier in the PDU is an identifier
of a control device, and the source identifier in the PDU is an identifier of a field
device corresponding to the service data in the PDU. If the PDU included in the downlink
transmission frame in 1003 carries an SN field, the PDU included in the uplink transmission
frame also carries an SN field, and the SN field has the same value as the SN field
in the PDU included in the downlink transmission frame, and indicates a downlink control
instruction corresponding to the service data carried in the PDU in the uplink transmission
frame. It should be noted that the uplink transmission frame sent by each secondary
station is combined by an optical distribution network into one or more uplink transmission
subframes in the uplink transmission frame received by the optical head-end.
[0060] 1011: The optical head-end receives the uplink transmission frame, parses the one
or more uplink transmission subframes included in the uplink transmission frame, and
obtains secondary station data units PDUs. The optical head-end sends the PDUs to
the controller based on the destination identifiers included in the PDUs. A packet
format of the secondary station data unit sent by the optical head-end to the controller
may be the packet format shown in Table 1. If the optical head-end records, in step
1003, the sequence of the primary station data units sent by the controller, the optical
head-end may further sort the secondary station data units based on source identifiers
included in the secondary station data units, so that a sequence of the secondary
station data units reported to the controller is consistent with the sequence of the
primary station data units delivered by the controller. After receiving the secondary
station service data, the controller parses the secondary station service data, and
performs subsequent processing.
[0061] The foregoing describes a method procedure of controlling a secondary station by
a controller through a point-to-multipoint optical communication network. It should
be noted that the data formats and field names shown in Table 1 to Table 3 are merely
examples, and the field names, lengths of the fields, a relationship between relative
positions of the fields, and the like may be changed depending on an actual requirement.
For example, in Table 2 and Table 3, fields such as the data type field, the operation
type field, and the offset address field may alternatively be encapsulated in the
payload field.
[0062] In the system for device control based on optical communication provided in this
application, a controller may communicate, through a point-to-multipoint optical communication
network, with a secondary station controlled or managed by the controller, and a plurality
of secondary stations managed by a same controller may also communicate with each
other. As shown in FIG. 11, the field device 11 may further send data to the field
device 12 through the point-to-multipoint optical communication network.
[0063] 1101: The field device 11 sends service data to the optical terminal 11.
[0064] 1103: The optical terminal 11 encapsulates the service data of the secondary station
11 into the PDU format shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, further encapsulates the service
data in the PDU format into an uplink transmission frame suitable for transmission
in the point-to-multipoint optical transmission network, and then sends the uplink
transmission frame through an optical signal. In the PDU that encapsulates the service
data of the secondary station 11, the destination identifier is an identifier of the
field device 12. For a format of the uplink transmission frame, refer to the description
in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Details are not described herein again.
[0065] 1105: The optical head-end receives the uplink transmission frame, determines, based
on the destination identifier in the PDU, that a destination recipient of the PDU
is the field device 12, and encapsulates the PDU into a downlink transmission frame
shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9. The header field in the downlink transmission frame includes
the identifier of the optical terminal 12. For a format of the downlink transmission
frame, refer to the description in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Details are not
described herein again.
[0066] 1107: After receiving the downlink transmission frame, the optical terminal 12 parses
the downlink transmission frame, and sends service data included in the downlink transmission
frame to the field device 12. For details of the method performed by the optical terminal
12, refer to step 1005. Details are not described herein again.
[0067] When there are a plurality of controllers, as shown in FIG. 3, the plurality of controllers
may further communicate with each other through head-end Ethernet modules of optical
head-ends. For example, the controller 1 may send a packet to the controller 2 through
the optical head-end 1. In this case, a destination node identified by a destination
identifier in a primary station data unit sent by the controller 1 is the controller
2. The optical head-end 1 determines that the destination node identified by the destination
identifier is the controller 2, and sends the primary station data unit to the optical
head-end 2 through an Ethernet interface. The optical head-end 2 sends the received
data unit, that is, the primary station data unit sent by the controller 1, to the
controller 2 based on the destination identifier in the data unit.
[0068] Because an optical head-end has an Ethernet communication interface, not only a plurality
of field devices managed by a same controller can communicate with each other, but
also field devices managed by different controllers can communicate with each other.
As shown in FIG. 12, the field device 11 may send a message or service data to the
field device 21. A networking relationship between the field device 11 and the field
device 21 is shown in FIG. 3.
[0069] 1201: The field device 11 sends secondary station service data to the optical terminal
11.
[0070] 1203: The optical terminal 11 encapsulates the secondary station service data of
the field device 11 into an uplink data frame. The uplink data frame includes a PDU,
and a destination identifier carried in the PDU is an identifier of the field device
21.
[0071] 1205: The optical head-end 1 receives the uplink data frame sent by the optical terminal
11, determines, by parsing the PDU included in the uplink data frame, that the destination
identifier carried in the PDU is neither an identifier of the controller 1 nor an
identifier of any field device managed by the controller 1, and therefore sends the
PDU to another optical head-end through the head-end Ethernet module. Optionally,
identifiers of field devices are defined according to a specific rule. The optical
head-end 1 may identify, based on the identifier of the field device 21, that the
field device 21 is a field device managed by the controller 2. Therefore, the optical
head-end 1 may send the PDU to the optical head-end 2. In a possible implementation,
some bits of an identifier of a field device include an identifier of a controller.
The optical head-end may determine, by parsing the identifier of the field device,
the identifier of the controller that controls or manages the field device.
[0072] 1207: The optical head-end 2 receives the Ethernet packet sent by the optical head-end
1, and determines, by parsing the destination identifier in the PDU in the Ethernet
packet, that a destination recipient of the PDU is the field device 21. The optical
head-end 2 encapsulates the PDU into a downlink transmission frame, and sends the
downlink transmission frame to the optical terminal 21.
[0073] 1209: The optical terminal 21 parses the downlink transmission frame, and sends service
data included in the PDU to the field device 21.
[0074] It can be learned that because the point-to-multipoint optical communication network
naturally has features such as low latency, high bandwidth, and low jitter, communication
between a controller and a field device and communication between field devices in
the industrial control system based on optical communication provided in this application
also have features such as low latency, high bandwidth, and low jitter.
[0075] This application further provides a device 1300. The device 1300 may be specifically
configured to implement a function of an optical head-end or an optical terminal in
embodiments of this application. As shown in FIG. 13, the device includes a processor
1301 and a transceiver 1303. The processor 1301 and the transceiver 1303 are connected
to each other through a line.
[0076] The processor 1301 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (Central Processing
Unit, CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit ASIC, or
at least one integrated circuit, and is configured to execute a related program, to
implement technical solutions provided in embodiments of the present invention. The
processor may independently have a PON-related protocol media access control (medium
access control, MAC) function, or may implement a PON protocol MAC function through
an external chip, to implement communication between an optical head-end and an optical
terminal. The device 1300 may include a plurality of processors, and each processor
may include one or more CPUs. The processor 1301 is specifically responsible for performing
the method related to the optical head-end or the optical terminal in this application,
and communicating with the optical head-end or the optical terminal through the transceiver
1303. When the device 1300 is configured to implement the function of the optical
head-end, the processor 1301 may correspond to the head-end service module 402 and
the head-end point-to-multipoint module 404 in FIG. 4. When the device 1300 is configured
to implement the function of the optical terminal, the processor 1301 may correspond
to the terminal point-to-multipoint module 502 and the terminal service module 503
in FIG. 5.
[0077] The transceiver 1303 is configured to perform functions of sending and receiving
uplink and downlink data frames in the foregoing embodiments. The transceiver 1303
includes an optical transmitter and/or an optical receiver. The optical transmitter
may be configured to send an optical signal, and the optical receiver may be configured
to receive the optical signal. The optical transmitter may be implemented through
a light-emitting device, for example, a gas laser, a solid-state laser, a liquid laser,
a semiconductor laser, or a directly modulated laser. The optical receiver may be
implemented through an optical detector, for example, a photodetector or a photodiode
(such as an avalanche photodiode). The transceiver 1303 may further include a digital-to-analog
converter and an analog-to-digital converter. The transceiver 1303 may further include
a wavelength-division multiplexer, configured to implement multiplexing and demultiplexing
of optical signals of different wavelengths. When the device 1300 is configured to
implement the function of the optical head-end, the transceiver 1303 may correspond
to the head-end optical module 405 in FIG. 4. When the device 1300 is configured to
implement the function of the optical terminal, the transceiver 1303 may correspond
to the terminal optical module 501 in FIG. 5.
[0078] Optionally, the device 1300 may further include a memory 1302. The memory 1302 is
configured to store program instructions and data. The memory may be a read-only memory
(Read-Only Memory, ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a random
access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM). When the technical solutions provided in
embodiments of the present invention are implemented through software or firmware,
program code used for implementing the technical solutions provided in embodiments
of the present invention is stored in the memory 1302, and is executed by the processor
1301.
[0079] In a possible implementation, the processor 1301 may include the memory 1302. In
another possible implementation, the processor 1301 and the memory 1302 are two independent
structures.
[0080] When the device 1300 is configured to implement the function of the optical head-end,
the device 1300 may further include one or more other communication interfaces 1304,
for example, a communication interface communicating with a controller and an Ethernet
communication interface communicating with another optical head-end. When the device
1300 is configured to implement the function of the optical terminal, the device 1300
may also include one or more other communication interfaces 1304. For example, when
the optical terminal and a field device are separately deployed, the optical terminal
communicates with the field device through the communication interface 1304.
[0081] It should also be noted that the system, method, and apparatus provided in this application
not only may be applied to the field of industrial control, but also may be applied
to any device control scenario. Any controller or server may operate and control a
device through the system and method provided in this application, and beneficial
effects of low latency and high bandwidth brought by optical communication can also
be obtained.
[0082] All or some of the foregoing embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware,
firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement the embodiments,
all or some of the embodiments may be implemented in a form of a computer program
product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions.
When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all
or some of procedures or functions in embodiments of the present invention are executed.
The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network,
or any other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a
computer-readable storage medium, or may be transmitted from a computer-readable storage
medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions
may be transmitted from a website, a computer, a server, or a data center to another
website, computer, server, or data center in a wired (for example, a coaxial cable,
an optical fiber, or a digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (for example, infrared,
radio, or microwave) manner. The computer-readable storage medium may be any usable
medium accessible by the computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or a
data center, integrating one or more usable media. The usable medium may be a magnetic
medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape), an optical medium
(for example, a DVD), a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid-state drive (Solid-State
Drive, SSD)), or the like.
1. A method for device control, comprising:
obtaining, by a first optical head-end, a first primary station packet from a first
controller, wherein the first primary station packet comprises a first primary station
data unit, the first primary station data unit comprises a destination identifier
and first service data, the destination identifier comprised in the first primary
station data unit is an identifier of a first field device, the first field device
is a field device controlled by the first controller, and the destination identifier
comprised in the first primary station data unit identifies a destination recipient
of the first service data;
determining, by the first optical head-end based on the destination identifier comprised
in the first primary station data unit, a first optical terminal connected to the
first field device; and
constructing, by the first optical head-end, a first downlink transmission frame,
and sending the first downlink transmission frame to the first optical terminal through
an optical signal, wherein the first downlink transmission frame comprises the first
primary station data unit and a header field corresponding to the first primary station
data unit, the header field corresponding to the first primary station data unit comprises
an identifier of the first optical terminal or a broadcast optical terminal identifier,
and the identifier of the first optical terminal or the broadcast optical terminal
identifier indicates the first optical terminal to process the first primary station
data unit.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first primary station packet further
comprises a second primary station data unit, the second primary station data unit
comprises a destination identifier and second service data, the destination identifier
comprised in the second primary station data unit is an identifier of a second field
device, and the second field device is a field device controlled by the first controller;
and the method further comprises:
determining, by the first optical head-end based on the destination identifier comprised
in the second primary station data unit, a second optical terminal connected to the
second field device, wherein
the first downlink transmission frame constructed and sent by the first optical head-end
further comprises the second primary station data unit and a header field corresponding
to the second primary station data unit, the header field corresponding to the second
primary station data unit comprises an identifier of the second optical terminal or
a broadcast optical terminal identifier, and the identifier of the second optical
terminal or the broadcast optical terminal identifier indicates the second optical
terminal to process the second primary station data unit.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
when the second primary station data unit and the first primary station data unit
correspond to a same header field, an identifier comprised in the header field is
the broadcast optical terminal identifier; and
when the second primary station data unit and the first primary station data unit
correspond to different header fields, an identifier comprised in the header field
corresponding to the first primary station data unit is the identifier of the first
optical terminal, and an identifier comprised in the header field corresponding to
the second primary station data unit is the identifier of the second optical terminal.
4. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 3, wherein after the sending, by the
first optical head-end, the first downlink transmission frame, the method further
comprises:
receiving, by the first optical head-end, a first uplink transmission frame, wherein
the first uplink transmission frame comprises a first uplink transmission subframe,
the first uplink transmission subframe comprises a header field and a first secondary
station data unit, the header field in the first uplink transmission subframe comprises
the identifier of the first optical terminal, the first secondary station data unit
comprises service data of the first field device and a source identifier, and the
source identifier in the first secondary station data unit is the identifier of the
first field device.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first uplink transmission frame received
by the first optical head-end further comprises a second uplink transmission subframe,
the second uplink transmission subframe comprises a header field and a second secondary
station data unit, the header field in the second uplink transmission subframe comprises
the identifier of the second optical terminal, the second secondary station data unit
comprises service data of the second field device and a source identifier, and the
source identifier in the second secondary station data unit is the identifier of the
second field device.
6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the first secondary station data unit
further comprises a destination identifier, and the method further comprises: determining,
by the first optical head-end based on the destination identifier comprised in the
first secondary station data unit, a path for forwarding the first secondary station
data unit.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining, by the first optical head-end
based on the destination identifier comprised in the first secondary station data
unit, a forwarding path specifically comprises:
when the destination identifier comprised in the first secondary station data unit
is an identifier of the first controller, sending, by the first optical head-end,
the first secondary station data unit to the first controller; or
when the destination identifier comprised in the first secondary station data unit
is the identifier of the second field device, constructing, by the first optical head-end,
a second downlink transmission frame based on the first secondary station data unit,
wherein the second downlink transmission frame comprises the first secondary station
data unit.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining, by the first optical head-end, a second primary station packet sent by
the first controller, wherein the second primary station packet comprises a third
primary station data unit, the third primary station data unit comprises a destination
identifier and third service data, and the destination identifier comprised in the
third primary station data unit is an identifier of a second controller;
determining, by the first optical head-end based on the identifier of the second controller,
a MAC address of a second optical head-end corresponding to the second controller;
and
sending, by the first optical head-end, the third primary station data unit to the
second optical head-end based on the MAC address of the second optical head-end.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the first optical head-end, a second uplink transmission frame, wherein
the second uplink transmission frame comprises a third uplink transmission subframe,
the third uplink transmission subframe comprises a header field and a third secondary
station data unit, the header field in the third uplink transmission subframe comprises
the identifier of the first optical terminal, the third secondary station data unit
comprises service data of the first field device, a source identifier, and a destination
identifier, the source identifier in the third secondary station data unit is the
identifier of the first field device, the destination identifier comprised in the
third secondary station data unit is an identifier of a third field device, and the
third field device is a field device controlled by the second controller; and
determining, by the first optical head-end based on the destination identifier comprised
in the third secondary station data unit, the MAC address of the second optical head-end
corresponding to the second controller; and sending the third secondary station data
unit to the second optical head-end based on the MAC address of the second optical
head-end.
10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the first optical head-end, a data unit from the second optical head-end,
and determining a forwarding path based on a destination identifier in the data unit
from the second optical head-end; and
when the destination identifier is the identifier of the first controller, sending,
by the first optical head-end, the data unit from the second optical head-end to the
first controller; or
when the destination identifier is an identifier of any field device controlled by
the first controller, constructing, by the first optical head-end, a third downlink
transmission frame, and sending the third downlink transmission frame through an optical
signal, wherein the third downlink transmission frame comprises the data unit from
the second optical head-end.
11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, by the first optical head-end, a third primary station packet sent by the
first controller, wherein the third primary station packet comprises a fourth primary
station data unit, the fourth primary station data unit comprises a destination identifier
and fourth service data, the destination identifier comprised in the fourth primary
station data unit is a broadcast secondary station identifier, and the broadcast secondary
station identifier identifies that a destination recipient of the fourth primary station
data unit is all field devices controlled by the first controller; and
constructing, by the first optical head-end, a fourth downlink transmission frame
based on the fourth primary station data unit, and sending the fourth downlink transmission
frame through an optical signal, wherein the fourth downlink transmission frame comprises
a header field and the fourth primary station data unit, the header field comprises
a broadcast optical terminal identifier, and the broadcast optical terminal identifier
identifies that a destination recipient of the fourth primary station data unit is
all optical terminals connected to the first optical head-end.
12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein any optical head-end is
an optical line terminal (optical line terminal, OLT), and any optical terminal is
an optical network unit (optical network unit, ONU) or an optical network terminal
(optical network terminal, ONT); and an identifier of any optical head-end and an
identifier of any optical terminal each are a passive optical network PON identifier,
and a type of the PON identifier comprises but is not limited to a gigabit-capable
passive optical network encapsulation mode GEM port identifier and an Ethernet passive
optical network EPON logical link identifier LLID.
13. The method according to claim 12, wherein any downlink transmission frame and any
uplink transmission frame are in a GEM frame format, and a header field comprised
in any downlink transmission frame and a header field comprised in any uplink transmission
frame each are a GEM frame header field.
14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein a packet transmitted between
the first controller and the first optical head-end further comprises at least one
of the following fields: a destination MAC address, a source MAC address, an Ethernet
type, a timestamp, and a frame check sequence;
in any primary station packet received by the first optical head-end, the destination
MAC address is a MAC address of the first optical head-end, and the source MAC address
is a MAC address of the first controller; and
in a packet sent by the first optical head-end to the first controller, the destination
MAC address is the MAC address of the first controller, and the source MAC address
is the MAC address of the first optical head-end.
15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein any primary station data
unit and any secondary station data unit each further comprise at least one of the
following fields: a data type, an operation type, a secondary station operation address
offset, a payload length, a packet sequence number, a priority, a last packet data
unit indication, a secondary station event, a response error code, and the like.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein a data type indicated by the data type field
comprises any one of the following data types: periodic real-time data, random access
data, management data, and security data; and
when the data type indicated by the data type field is the periodic real-time data
or the random access data, a command type indicated by the operation type field comprises
any one of the following types: a read operation, a write operation, a read/write
operation, a broadcast write operation, and a loopback test; or
when the data type indicated by the data type field is the management data, a command
type indicated by the operation type field comprises any one of the following types:
a read operation, a read response operation, a set operation, and a set response operation.
17. A method for device control, comprising:
receiving, by a first optical terminal, a downlink optical signal from a first optical
head-end, wherein the downlink optical signal comprises a first downlink transmission
frame, the first downlink transmission frame comprises a first primary station data
unit and a header field corresponding to the first primary station data unit, the
header field corresponding to the first primary station data unit comprises an identifier
of the first optical terminal or a broadcast optical terminal identifier, the first
primary station data unit comprises a destination identifier and first service data,
the destination identifier comprised in the first primary station data unit is an
identifier of a first field device, and the first optical terminal is connected to
the first field device;
determining, by the first optical terminal based on the identifier of the first optical
terminal or the broadcast optical terminal identifier comprised in the header field
corresponding to the first primary station data unit, that the first primary station
data unit is a to-be-processed data unit; and
sending, by the first optical terminal, the first service data to the first field
device based on the identifier of the first field device comprised in the first primary
station data unit, or operating or controlling the first field device based on the
first service data.
18. The method according to claim 17, wherein when the header field corresponding to the
first primary station data unit comprises the broadcast optical terminal identifier,
the method further comprises: determining, by the first optical terminal based on
the destination identifier comprised in the first primary station data unit, that
the first primary station data unit is the to-be-processed data unit.
19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining, by the first optical terminal, service data of the first field device,
and encapsulating the service data of the first field device into a first uplink transmission
subframe, wherein the first uplink transmission subframe comprises a header field
and a first secondary station data unit, the header field in the first uplink transmission
subframe comprises the identifier of the first optical terminal, the first secondary
station data unit comprises the service data of the first field device and a source
identifier, and the source identifier in the first secondary station data unit is
the identifier of the first field device; and sending the first uplink transmission
subframe to the first optical head-end through an optical signal.
20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the method further comprises:
encapsulating, by the first optical terminal, the service data of the first field
device into a third uplink transmission subframe, wherein the third uplink transmission
subframe comprises a header field and a third secondary station data unit, the header
field in the third uplink transmission subframe comprises the identifier of the first
optical terminal, the third secondary station data unit comprises the service data
of the first field device, a source identifier, and a destination identifier, the
source identifier in the third secondary station data unit is the identifier of the
first field device, and the destination identifier comprised in the third secondary
station data unit is an identifier of another field device; and
sending, by the first optical terminal, the third uplink transmission subframe to
the first optical head-end through an optical signal.
21. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein any optical head-end is
an OLT, and any optical terminal is an ONU or an ONT; and an identifier of the first
optical head-end and the identifier of the first optical terminal each are a passive
optical network PON identifier, and a type of the PON identifier comprises but is
not limited to a gigabit-capable passive optical network encapsulation mode GEM port
identifier and an Ethernet passive optical network EPON logical link identifier LLID.
22. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, wherein any downlink transmission
frame and any uplink transmission frame are in a GEM frame format, and a header field
comprised in any downlink transmission frame and a header field comprised in any uplink
transmission frame each are a GEM frame header field.
23. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein any primary station data
unit and any secondary station data unit each further comprise at least one of the
following fields: a data type, an operation type, a secondary station operation address
offset, a payload length, a packet sequence number, a priority, a last packet data
unit indication, a secondary station event, a response error code, and the like.
24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the sending, by the first optical terminal,
the first service data to the first field device, or operating or controlling the
first field device based on the first service data specifically comprises:
sending, by the first optical terminal to the first field device, the operation type
and the secondary station operation address offset that are comprised in the first
primary station data unit, or operating or controlling the first field device based
on the operation type and the secondary station operation address offset.
25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, wherein a data type indicated by the data
type field comprises any one of the following data types: periodic real-time data,
random access data, management data, and security data; and
when the data type indicated by the data type field is the periodic real-time data
or the random access data, a command type indicated by the operation type field comprises
any one of the following types: a read operation, a write operation, a read/write
operation, a broadcast write operation, and a loopback test; or
when the data type indicated by the data type field is the management data, a command
type indicated by the operation type field comprises any one of the following types:
a read operation, a read response operation, a set operation, and a set response operation.
26. An apparatus for device control, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor and a
transceiver, wherein
the transceiver is configured to send and receive optical signals; and
the processor is configured to execute instructions, and when the instructions are
executed, the apparatus serves as a first optical head-end to perform the method according
to any one of claims 1 to 16.
27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the apparatus further comprises a communication
interface, and the communication interface is configured to provide an Ethernet communication
interface.
28. An apparatus for device control, wherein the apparatus comprises a processor and a
transceiver, wherein
the transceiver is configured to send and receive optical signals; and
the processor is configured to execute instructions, and when the instructions are
executed, the apparatus serves as a first optical terminal to perform the method according
to any one of claims 17 to 25.
29. A system for device control, wherein the system comprises the apparatus according
to claim 26 or 27 and a controller, and the controller controls a device through the
apparatus.
30. A system for device control, wherein the system comprises the apparatus according
to claim 28 and a device, and the device receives a control instruction through the
apparatus and reports service data.
31. A computer program product, comprising one or more computer program instructions,
wherein when the one or more computer program instructions are loaded and run by a
computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of claims
1 to 25.